Kit's Little Sparks follows one small inventor through noticing, building, failing, fixing, and the three biggest words a toddler can say: "I made that!" Written by a patent attorney and preschool co-founder, it is the first chapter of a journey that grows with your child to age 12.
STEM picture books for ages 2 to 4, the first step of a 50-book journey.
“My youngest daughter struggles with her emotions and seeing this book helped her understand better. The little exercises at the back are tools she can use at school.”
“A beautifully illustrated book with simple language, yet complex ideas... The activities through the last pages are themselves inspired. So fun and would work in homes or in classrooms alike.”
“The book is written in simple, relatable language to teach little ones how to look around them... a unique educational series for children on the theme of creativity and invention. Great concept!”
Reviewed on Amazon and Goodreads. Written by a USPTO-registered patent attorney, preschool co-founder, and dad.
“There are puzzles everywhere we look and it shows how to look at situations like puzzles.”Yessi onAmazon· Book 3, Kit Sees A Puzzle
“The little exercises at the back are tools she can use at school when she doesn’t quite know what she’s feeling.”Jessi onAmazon· Book 4, Kit Has Feelings
“The activities mentioned in the story are also great because it encourages children to repeat them in their own surroundings.”Mike onAmazon· Book 1, Kit's Big Curiosity
“I especially love the activities in the back of the book. This would make a great birthday or Christmas gift.”dave onAmazon· Book 6, Kit Builds Something
“I like the step by step guide after the story itself on how to help. Such a good kids book!”Amanda onAmazon· Book 19, Kit Helps Lily“This beautifully illustrated book is the first in a unique educational series for children on the theme of creativity and invention.”Dr. J, author onGoodreads· Book 1, Kit's Big Curiosity
“Such a great way to introduce the idea of being inspired versus copying or plagiarism of others' ideas.”Marisa onAmazon· Book 15, Kit Gets Inspired
“A sweet, thoughtful story that encourages kindness and heartfelt giving.”JCMartinell onAmazon· Book 16, Kit Gives It Away
“I think this series will soon become a favorite in our household.”joanne onAmazon· Book 20, Kit's Promise“This is such a cute and beautiful story on making gifts by Hand for your family and friends”Rebekah T. onAmazon· Book 16, Kit Gives It Away
“I liked that Marco cheered for Kit with every squiggle he made, until he decided on a drawing.”Lisa Thompson onAmazon· Book 5, Kit Draws an Idea“Cute little pictures of the main character making his Grandma a present!”Crystal Pfannenstiel onAmazon· Book 16, Kit Gives It Away“The world is full of interesting things so all you need to do is stop and look.”Tabby onAmazon· Book 1, Kit's Big Curiosity
“Loud and proud. I have always been scared of public speaking, hopefully this will help a little one with not being terrified!”rileynicole onAmazon· Book 17, Kit's Show and Tell“This reminds me of books I used to read when I was growing up. Lovely read.”Appollonia Avalos onAmazon· Book 1, Kit's Big Curiosity“I actually read this with my 8 yo and we even did some of the activities in the end of the book.”Melissa onAmazon· Book 3, Kit Sees A Puzzle
“It teaches children the importance of sharing and being kind to others in a simple and fun way.”Merlyn Yaneth Perez onAmazon· Book 11, Kit Shares with a Friend“This is a cute little book... I honestly enjoyed it.”Raymond Brown onAmazon· Book 5, Kit Draws an Idea
“Great little book for every little inventor out there struggling to name their inventions.”Aymie T. onAmazon· Book 9, Kit's Creation Has a Name
“Many hands make light work.”Amazon Customer onAmazon· Book 14, Kit Helps a Friend Build“The games to interact with our kids are amazing, getting to sit in front of a mirror and participate in the different emotions like happy, sad, frustrated, excited, surprised and proud...”Malena onAmazon· Book 4, Kit Has Feelings“At the end of the book it also give little project that you can do that would lead to inspiration for the children.”Wanda Torres onAmazon· Book 15, Kit Gets Inspired“It also encourages children to express their feelings, that it is a normal thing and that everybody has feelings.”Alisha B onAmazon· Book 4, Kit Has Feelings“I think the activity pages are the most important part to let kids take what they have read and turn it into action.”Kaley Reynolds onAmazon· Book 15, Kit Gets Inspired
“Everything you pass, touch, use; someone made that. That's cool!”Kiki onAmazon· Book 2, Kit Meets Sparks“It shows you can make anything if you put your mind to it as well as helping someone make something can mean the world to someone!”Kristina onAmazon· Book 19, Kit Helps Lily“To take silly things around the house and turn them into something new and exciting and all it takes is a little bit of creativity and some tape.”Alisha B onAmazon· Book 6, Kit Builds Something
“The reading pairs well with the illustrations. After the reading, it has an activity to do which was nice to do.”Pardo’s onAmazon· Book 8, Kit Makes It Better
“This book basically teaches you say it loud, say it proud! ... A very powerful and important lesson for young children with creative minds!”Alisha B onAmazon· Book 10, Kit Says 'I Made That!'“Simple with a clear message my kids understood right away. The activities at the end are super simple and fun for reinforcing the point made in the story.”Caitlin B onAmazon· Book 11, Kit Shares with a Friend“A little inventor with a very big heart... Her joy at receiving it and his joy at watching her face are the whole point of the story.”JM Saner onGoodreads· Book 16, Kit Gives It Away“I like that this book bolsters the idea that creativity does not need to equal perfection.”Denelle Wolff onAmazon· Book 5, Kit Draws an Idea“I especially like how this book encourages kids to wait for someone to ask for help before jumping in, rather than just taking over and doing.”Marisa onAmazon· Book 19, Kit Helps Lily“Zara needed help and because Kit was able to help, she in turn helped him by sharing too!”Dakota onAmazon· Book 11, Kit Shares with a Friend“The author tells a wonderful story of collaboration and how much we will get done together.”charnedza onAmazon· Book 14, Kit Helps a Friend Build“Cute little book it also gives kids ideas at the end on how to come up with a silly, fun name for their toys, inventions etc and then tell the world.”Kelly onAmazon· Book 9, Kit's Creation Has a Name“It brings collaboration and friendship together in a way that makes sense to kids. Absolutely great book!”Samantha Chermak onAmazon· Book 14, Kit Helps a Friend Build
“Great book for little minds! Inventing can start at any age. Small minds sometimes think better than grown-ups!”rileynicole onAmazon· Book 18, Kit Looks at the Stars
“In this book the child was upset because his invention was copied but the other child meant no harm and they talked it out.”Kelly onAmazon· Book 13, Kit and the CopycatFifty books. Ten years of growing up. A children's library built from a patent practice and a preschool, written so a child can grow into the next series the year they outgrow the last.
Toddlers can think like inventors before they can read.
From "I made that" to "I'm an inventor."
Every great invention starts in a notebook.
Six kids, one pickle jar of royalties, and a company.
Kit grows up across four series and ten years. So does your reader. Buy one book, one collection, or commit to the whole journey, and never run out of the next right thing to read.
Now that you can make things, what do you do with an idea? Who it belongs to, how to share it without losing it, and when to keep it quiet, told as stories a four-year-old can use. Written by an engineer turned patent attorney.
Board pages for tiny hands. Picture-book workshops for kindergarten thumbs. Chapter books with journal pages for grade-school imaginations. Right format, right age, every step.
Series 1 walks a child through five gentle phases of the inventor's mindset. Buy one phase, one book, or the whole series. Free read-along audio and activity sheets included with every title.
Kit's eyes open. Notice the world. See that everything was made by someone. Spot the puzzles. Name the feelings.
Crayons and cardboard come out. Kit draws, builds, fails, tries again, and improves an idea one fix at a time.
Things get names. "I made that" gets a proud voice. Sharing finds its rules. A special stamp says: this is mine.
Copycats happen. So does collaboration. Kit handles them with words, builds with friends, and gives something away.
A child stands up and tells the world what they made. Inspired by inventors before them. Teaching the next little sister.
A year-and-a-half of read-alouds. One growing reader.
The first chapter of an inventor's life.
Every Kit's Little Sparks order ships gift-ready with this hand-illustrated poster of the Inventor's Promise. Hang it where curiosity grows.
In 2022, a five-year-old at our preschool noticed something missing in his family's daily dog walks. He sketched a new kind of leash. He wrote out, in his own words, what made his idea different. He designed a trademark for the company he imagined would make it. Then he stood up and presented the whole thing to his class.
After the presentation, our founder did the patent attorney's part: turning the child's sketches into formal drawings and prosecuting the application through the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
On October 22, 2024, the USPTO granted the design patent. The inventor named on the certificate is the student.
Kit's Little Sparks is the book series Chris wrote so every child can walk the same path he did.
I've spent more than 20 years working with inventors. I've helped people patent everything from automotive components to medical devices, and what I learned across all those projects is that invention isn't a talent. It's a process. Notice. Sketch. Try. Fail. Fix. Show. Claim.
In 2015 I co-founded a preschool. And every single day I watched 3-year-olds run that exact same process. Cardboard. Tape. Trial and error. Big claims about what they'd just built. The same arc I'd been documenting for grown-up inventors my whole career.
Kit's Big Ideas is the library I wished existed: fifty books across four age-tiered series, designed to plant the inventor's mindset at age 2, hand a child the tools at age 4, put them to work at age 6, and hand them a company of their own at age 8. Series 1 is here. Series 2, Series 3, and Series 4 are in the works. Sign up for the first-look list and I'll let you know the moment each one is ready.
Notes on raising curious kids from a patent attorney, preschool co-founder, and dad.
Guidance and challenging behavior is NAEYC's most-read topic. Book 13 hands a toddler the three-step script that early childhoo...
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NAEYC and California both name family engagement as a core practice. The series' answer is one question, one activity, and one ...
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The NAEYC and Fred Rogers Center position statement on technology draws one line that still holds: passive screen use alone is ...
Read moreInvention isn't a talent. It's a process. Notice. Sketch. Try. Fail. Fix. Show. Claim.
Toddlers can think like inventors before they can read. The first job of a children's book is to take their ideas seriously.
Every child has the same process running inside them as the engineers I represent at the patent office. The only difference is the language.
The free Inventor's Promise poster is yours when you join. We'll also send you new activity sheets, first listens on free read-along audio, and an early notice every time the next book in the universe ships.
Every Series 1 title ships with a free educator guide: discussion prompts, activities, and learning outcomes mapped to NAEYC, the NGSS science and engineering practices, and CASEL. Series 2 (PreK and kindergarten), Series 3 (early elementary), and Series 4 (upper elementary) extend the curriculum thread for years.
All 20 Series 1 books are shipping today as ebooks, paperbacks, and hardcovers. Board books are on the waitlist, join to be notified when they print. Series 2, 3, and 4 are open for first-look notification, joining the list is free with no commitments.
Where Kit's journey begins. The world is full of interesting things, and noticing them is the first move every inventor makes.
The first phase. Four titles, priced below buying the four books individually. Available in ebook, paperback, and hardcover (board book on the waitlist). Ships gift-ready with the Inventor's Promise poster.
Every book in Kit's first journey. All 20 books ship today in ebook, paperback, and hardcover. Board books are on the waitlist, join to lock in your spot when they print.
What to do with an idea once you have one: who it belongs to, how to share it, when to keep it quiet. Told through stories a preschooler can use. Workshop activities at the back of every book.
Illustrated chapter books with write-in journal pages. Kids meet real inventors, run a community invention fair, and finish the year with a working journal of their own ideas.
Four age-tiered series under one growing journey. Series 1 (Kit's Little Sparks · 20 books · ages 2 to 4) is shipping now. Series 2 (Inventor Workshop · 10 picture books · ages 4 to 6), Series 3 (Inventor's Journal · 10 chapter books · ages 6 to 8), and Series 4 (Kit & Co. · 10 books · ages 8 to 12) are in the works. Sign up for the first-look list to be notified the moment each one is ready, no commitments. A child who starts at age 2 grows into the next series the year they outgrow the last.
Designed for ages 2 to 4. The early books work as read-alouds for 18-month-olds; the later books support pre-K conversations. Many families read the same book at 2 and again at 4, different layers come out as the child grows.
Series 1 ships now as paperbacks and hardcovers. Both are library-grade prints on smooth, kid-friendly stock. The board book edition (7x7 trim, rounded corners, thick pages built for toddler hands) is on the waitlist. Join to be notified when it prints. Series 2 will be standard picture books. Series 3 will be illustrated chapter books with a hardcover edition.
Yes, every Series 1 book ships with a free read-along audio version, available right on this site. Press play, listen along with your child, and follow the printed book or the on-screen pages. On iPhone you can lock the screen and the story keeps going with the cover art on your lock screen.
Not yet, Series 2, 3, and 4 are still in the works. Joining the first-look list is the easiest way to be notified the moment each one is ready. No commitments, no charges, just a heads-up.
Yes. 20% off educator orders of 20+ books, 25% off at 100+. Free educator guides come with every book. Request a sample pack at the link in the educator section.
Kindle ebook editions of all 20 Series 1 titles are live on Amazon. Paperbacks and hardcovers are sold direct here and on Amazon. Apple Books, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, and Google Play also carry the digital edition of Book 1. The board book edition joins the waitlist here on this site.
